Money 'Atmosphere' Naked Shower Gel

Money cannot buy you happiness but it can certainly help you on your way to achieving such greatness. While the world is corrupted by the greed of those that want ultimate wealth above others, most of us would be happy with simply being content, and that's certainly what I focused on when I tried out Money Atmosphere Shower Gel for the first time the other day.

Designed to 'see yourself enjoying absolute control, becoming master, not servant, to the trappings of wealth' Money is one of four limited edition Atmospheres designed to offer something a little more in the shower. Simply pinch the outer seaweed layer between your fingers and use the shower gel that spills forth between your fingers. You can then throw the 'plastic' shell onto a compost heap and leave it to dissolve away into nothing.

Packaged as a naked product, Money Atmosphere is supposed to eradicate the need for plastic bottles or tubs, and sees Lush creating a different format from the naked bottle-shaped shower gels that they've been releasing for the last year. Unfortunately, these limited editions can only be purchased as a set of four, and will set you back £12 for the privilege, which I find it be rather expensive. Hopefully, this is just an early prototype that can be improved upon and released for a far more reasonable price in the near future.  

With all four of the Atmosphere Shower Gels, I found that they didn't lather up as well as any of Lush's other former gels. While the consistency was rather thick and the gel itself was noticeably moisturising, I found that I was unable to create much of a lather at all. Although the gel worked a little better when I was massaging it between my hands - with the seaweed coating present as well to stimulate a little foam - I found that I had to use much more than I normally would, just to feel as though I had cleaned myself enough.

What was great about Money though was the combination of different ingredients to offer a rather wonderful smelling shower gel. With lime, fennel and cypress oils, you get a rather lovely fruity smell with a warm and very subtly spicy undercurrent. I love the fact that the lime smells so rounded and delicate - like it's zestiness has been removed and replaced with a woody layer that makes it smell so warm and inviting.

Again, I was a little disappointed that the scent wasn't as strong as I would usually expect from a Lush shower gel, but there was enough there for me to enjoy the experience very much in the shower. Furthermore, I was able to detect it slightly on the few strands of hair that I got wet during my experience, although strangely not on my skin after towelling myself down.

While Mark Constantine suggests that these are one-use shower gels, I could easily get 3-4 showers out of a single pod. Having said that, I feel as if I could have gotten far more uses if the shower gel had lathered up a little more. For £3 a piece, I want to make the most of these shower gels. However, I don't quite think that any one of the four that have made an appearance are at a quality ready to be introduced to the public.    

Quantitative Ingredients: Glycerine, Water (Aqua), Sodium Cocoamphoacetate, Lauryl Betaine, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Calcium Lactate, Fine Sea Salt, Perfume, Lime Oil, Fennel Oil, Cypress Oil, Orris Oil, Xanthan Gum, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Citral, *Limonene, *Linalool, Colour 47005:1, Colour 42090:2.

Vegan?: Yes.

2018 Price: £3 each (although not currently sold separately)

Year Of Original Release: 2018.